Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Christopher Gould, London, c. 1690–1695
- Maker / attribution
- Christopher Gould (maker)
- Date
- c. 1690–1695
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ebony
- Dimensions
- Height 33 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 410
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 410)
- Catalogue title (original)
- CHRISTOPHER GOULD LONDINI FECIT. A fine William III period ebony veneered basket top table clock by this excellent maker. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 410), this is a bracket clock by Christopher Gould, made in London, England, dated c. 1690–1695. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebony. Recorded dimensions: Height 33 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A fine William III period ebony veneered basket top table clock by this excellent maker. The 8-day movement, which strikes the hours, has an original verge escapement, short bob pendulum and pull quarter repeat on a second bell. The finely matted and engraved brass dial has a raised chapter ring with fleur-de-lys half-hour markers. The date indicator is inset above 6 o’clock and there is a strike/silent lever above XII. The blued steel pointers are finely pierced and facetted. The elaborate back plate is engraved with beautiful tulip and foliate scrolls and a scribe line border. The maker’s signature Christop Gould Londini Fecit is set within a cartouche just below the centre and above the elaborate click springs. The elegant case is constructed primarily in oak and veneered with ebony. It has a gilt repoussé basket top with an elaborate zoomorphic brass carrying handle and retains its original gilt brass escutcheons and sound frets. Height : 13 in (33 cm) excluding handle Height : 15 in (38 cm) including handle Width : 9 ½ in (24 cm) Depth : 6 in (15.25 cm) * Christopher Gould was made a Free Brother in The Clockmakers’ Company in April 1682. He was later appointed Beadle in 1713. He was one of the greatest clockmakers of the period and his work was of the finest quality as attested by this clock. He died in 1718. There are clocks made by him in many public collections including the British Museum. Reference s: B. Loomes, Early Clockmakers of Great Britain: 1286-1700 , p. 222 B. Loomes, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, Complete 21st Century Edition , p. 313 HW6084
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:FuseeAnchor (recoil) escapement
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